WHAT is clear in the campaign for the impending by-elections so far is the contrast in the messages of the two main political parties, ZANU PF and CCC.

ZANU PF is sticking with its people-oriented ideology, emphasising that the indigenes should be responsible for building their own country: ‘nyika inovakwa nevene vayo’.

In other words, the revolutionary Party has stuck to its doctrine that we are masters of our own destiny.

On the other hand ,the one-man band CCC party leader’s message is so obvious that the party has neither ideology nor a constitution and therefore no direction.

Nelson Chamisa confessed this at the launch of his party at the Zimbabwe Grounds recently. 

Without an ideology or a constitution for guidance, his message at rallies lacks coherence.

At the imposing ZANU PF rally at Mbidzo Stadium, Kwekwe, on Saturday, President Mnangagwa was proud of the home-grown solutions initiated by his Government.

For the people of Kwekwe, nothing could have sounded sweeter than the news of the impending reopening of the  Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (ZiscoSteel) in Redcliff.

And the resuscitation of ZiscoSteel is by a local company, Kuvimba Mining House. 

Apart from empowering local companies, this is also a sanctions beater.

ZiscoSteel used to employ between 6 000 – 7 000 employees, but had been collapsed by the West’s illegal sanctions.

Although this was the very intention of the sanctions, we have not been taking the punitive measures lying down.

The message of being responsible for our own destiny is even more eloquently demonstrated by the Land Reform Programme.

This has seen land predominantly owned by whites being transferred to indigenes.

We have even shown we can do well and even better than the white farmers we replaced.

And with the introduction of Pfumvudza, even at household level, our achievements have been phenomenal.

Without doubt, the land ownership revolution remains one of the most outstanding empowerment ventures initiated by the ZANU PF Government.  

Despite this revolutionary success in managing our affairs without the oppressive  colonialists, you still hear some blacks yearning for the return of whites.

At his recent star rally at Zimbabwe Grounds, CCC one-man band leader Nelson Chamisa was boasting of how he would woo whites to flock back to the country if elected president.

Why? 

This is the same Chamisa, who lied that then US President Donald Trump had promised him US$15 billion once he won the election.

The mistaken belief that whites can just pour hordes of money gratis has grown to be part of his DNA.

At another rally, Chamisa claimed the police, army, CIO, prison officers and civil servants are all backing him.

But he doesn’t explain why.

We would have expected him to spell out his achievements at managing cities and towns his councillors have been running for the past two decades. 

The ambitious politician, who at one time is claiming to be so popular, is, paradoxically, obsessed with fear of losing the elections. 

And to stop that from happening, he is threatening to use violence if he loses.

Perhaps a foretaste of what can be expected are the running battles between his supporters and police in Gokwe at the weekend.

The same politician who is claiming massive popularity, while at the same time he has nightmarish fear of losing through rigging.

This is after he has claimed that he has put in place mechanisms that will put paid to any efforts to rig the elections.

Chamisa’s one-man band party which has no ideology, constitution or structures does not have any proud record to fall back on.

Neither does he have anything elaborate to promise the electorate.

The choice is now left to the electorate to determine who to trust on March 26.